Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews. Learn more.
Manage Subscriptions2021 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay
Chardonnay
- South Africa
- Cape South Coast
- Walker Bay
- Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
Community Tasting Notes 18
-
Funky96 Likes this wine: 92 points
April 12, 2024 - Aromas: Tropical fruits, peach, pineapple, some creamy notes. Lychee. Grapefruit. Very tropical. Hay note.
Tongue: medium + acidity, medium + body. Slightly sweet but with acidity to match.
It can seem a bit flabby on the tongue, but needs a serious chill to show its best.
Decanted cold this time for 45 mins before. Very nice wine for the price, bought for around 25 originally.
Would recommend. The pinot is also amazing and i would rate that above the chard for 21. -
BlancdeBlanc Likes this wine: 93 points
March 1, 2024 - Smooth, creamy, orchard fruit, perfect
-
bobadopolis Likes this wine: 88 points
January 23, 2024 - Steely and rather light on fruit. Passed vintages have put this bottle to shame.
-
Vince_chip Likes this wine: 92 points
January 22, 2024 - Moins tropical que d’autres bouteille, un peu plus bourguignon. Très bien.
-
Michael Mackenzie Likes this wine: 93 points
January 11, 2024 - This stellar vintage was later and cooler than usual. Based on our measure of temperature, the average of the maximum temperatures for the 4 hottest months (crucial to harvest) Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, 2021 came in at 24.3 Centigrade. This compares to 24.8 Centigrade for a long-term average of the equivalent period in Burgundy. In the last 25 years, only 2001, 2004 and 2008 have been cooler. Winter was wetter than usual with 140mm more rain than average, filling dams and building the water table beautifully. Chill units started accumulating later than usual and a cool Spring and later budding accounted for the later harvest. A warm January was a welcome help towards healthy ripening. Any disease pressure from rain showers during ripening was effectively controlled organically. Yields, as always for us, were low. The Pinot noir harvest finished 10 days later than 2020, and the Chardonnay harvest finished 8 days later. Fruit quality and acidity were exceptional for both. The 2021 wines stand out for their complex, layered elegance, purity and mineral liveliness.
Soil: Low-vigour, stony, clay-rich, shale-derived soil
Alcohol: 13.40% Acid: 6.80 g/l pH: 3.32 Residual Sugar: 1.90 g/l
Barrel Ageing: 9 Months
Wooding: 26% 300 litre, 68% 228 litre French Oak Barrels
Barrel Fermentation: 94% Foudre: 6% Tight Grain: 100%
1st fill: 26% 2nd fill: 32% 3rd fill: 31% 4th fill: 11%
Hamilton Russell Vineyards Toast
French Coopers: Francois Freres 100%
Yield: 2.35 tons/ha, 15.65 hl/ha
Production: 3700 cases of 12 bottles equivalent Release date – January 2022
Source: winery website (you cannot fault the attention to detail!)
This was declared Chardonnay of the Year by Platter's 2023 Edition.
Colour: light gold, bright, clear.
Nose: q reticent, fresh, lime, not oaky at all,
Taste: light body, v fresh and leads with acidity, saline, citrus, mineral, med finish, v dry, chalky, saline, almost austere, wood well blended.
Overall, this seems like a baby right now, Chablis rather than Côte de Beaune and not v New World. Indeed, blind I would put it as a top Chablis Premier Cru. If you drink it now, I would decant it.
Pro Reviews 6
Add a Pro ReviewDecanter
-
By Panel Tasting
Wines of the Year 2023, 11/2/2023 (link)(Hamilton Russell, Chardonnay, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Walker Bay, South Africa, White) Subscribe to see review text.
WineAlign
-
By John Szabo, MS
4/20/2023 (link)(Hamilton Russell Vineyard Chardonnay, W.O. Hemel En Aarde Valley white) Subscribe to see review text.
JamesSuckling.com
-
By James Suckling
10/27/2022 (link)(Hamilton Russell Chardonnay Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, South Africa) Subscribe to see review text.
WineAlign
-
By Michael Godel
8/25/2022 (link)(Hamilton Russell Vineyard Chardonnay, Hemel En Aarde white) Subscribe to see review text.
Decanter
-
By Andy Howard MW
Hamilton Russell tasting, 3/15/2022 (link)(Hamilton Russell, Chardonnay, Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Walker Bay, South Africa, White) Subscribe to see review text.
Vinous
-
By Neal Martin
Growing Up ‘n Getting Wiser: South Africa in 2022 (Sep 2022) (link)(Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay White) Subscribe to see review text.
Wine Definition
- Vintage 2021
- Type White
- Producer Hamilton Russell Vineyards
- Varietal Chardonnay
- Designation n/a
- Vineyard n/a
- Country South Africa
- Region Cape South Coast
- SubRegion Walker Bay
- Appellation Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
- UPC Code 6002525000262
Community Holdings
- Pending Delivery 33 (5%)
- In Cellars 480 (71%)
- Consumed 159 (24%)
Food Pairing
Who Likes This Wine
More About This Wine
Articles
- Wine2021 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay
- ProducerHamilton Russell Vineyards
- VarietyChardonnay
- CountrySouth Africa
Add Articles
- Wine2021 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay
- FamilyHamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay (add)
- ProducerHamilton Russell Vineyards
- VarietalChardonnay
- CountrySouth Africa
- RegionCape South Coast (add)
- SubRegionWalker Bay (add)
- AppellationHemel-en-Aarde Valley (add)